Souri



E. C. NEWCOMB.

EXHAUST STEAM TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30. m9.

1,33 1,999. Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

jvzz/erzior 25 lidwalddlyuwmb.

E. C. NEWCOMB.

EXHAUST STEAM TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30. 1919.

r w w h Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

3 SHEET$SHEET 2.

E. C. NEWCOMB.

EXHAUST STEAM TURBINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1919;

Patented Feb. 24,1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

r M g i \Ji b Z 2W In uenior Zdmrd. 6'. lYa/wmbj UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

EDWARD o. NEwcoMB', OF SCITUATE, MASSACHUSETTS, 'Ass qNoR T0 STANEARD ENGINEERING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION 01? MIS- SOURI.

Application filed June 30, 1919. Serial No. 307,696.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD C. NEwcoMB, a citizen-0f the United States, residing in the town of Scituate and county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Exhaust-Steam Turbines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to steam turbines of the type designed to be operated by the exhaust steam from a steam engine.

The broad idea of my invention consists in providing an exhaust-steam-actuated,turbine with automatic. means for-increasing the nozzle area as the volume ofithe exhaust steam increases, thereby keepm'g'the steam Velocity approximately constant, irrespective of variations in steam .volume. v

. The embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings is particularly adapted for use on a steam automobile for driving the fan which draws in air'through the radiator, which latter acts as a condenser for the steam from the engine.

7 Attempts have been made to use an ex- 'hill, or at a high or low rate of speed, and

upon the manner of con rol of the throttle bv the operator. It will, therefore. be obvious that to get the be t results from a turbine which is run by the exhau t steam of an engine that is constantlv changing load, it is necessarv t at a construction of turbine be employed that will adapt itself to such changing conditions.

Due to the construction an rinci e of operation emploved in mv turbine, as h einafter more fullv indicat d. I am enabled to secure the maximum ei c e ev from the steam wit out increasing the back pressure on the engine.

In the adaptation of my invention as an exhaust turbine for steam automobiles, the exhaust pipe from the engineis connected to the. turbine intake, and the discharge from the turbine is connected to the top of the radiator, and the steam passing through the radiatoris condensed to water and returned to the water tank, which latter is supported by the frame of the car and is below the bottom of the radiator. As stated, the turbine runs a fan for drawing air throughthe. radiator, Ior condenser, so as to increase the etficiency of said radiator in condensing the.;,steam backto water.

' While I have thus briefly, indicated the general purpose and p'rinciple of operation of my invention in its embodiment in an exhaust turbine for steam automobiles, I

wish it distinctly understood that the invention is v not limited to. such adaptation, and that the broad underlying principle of operation is useful in other adaptations and in other types of turbines.

In the; accompanying drawings illustrating the invention:

Figure 1 isa view in side elevation of a turbine constructed according to my invention:

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view thereof taken on the line 22 of sho n in Fig. 1;

F g. 4 is-a cram-sectional view taken on the line 4 4,of Fig. 2;

Fin. 5 is also a cr -sectional view taken on the l e 5, f Fin. Qand viewed in th ire t on o t e arrows:

' Fin'. 6 is a dev on sect onal view on tho mir erl line 6ti of F g. 4! and F g. 7 is a dphiile l pers ct e V ew il ustretinn' one otthe autn atie lv adju ble gate. valve for c n rolling the area of the novvh otthe turb ne.

Fot rrinrrmn'w tn t d a in s. t e T111- mmig 2 resp et in at he, two halves 01 the cv in dr ealn all oi the We hino. and 3. 4. the end p ates th reof". the c lin er walls a d end plates-being corresnondinolv aperture lat two or more po nts to receive tie-bolts 5, which prevent move- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 24,1920- From the chamber 39" the steam then passes through the nozzle formed by the endwall 42 of port and the inclined face.43, of valve 41, and again impinges; upon and passes between the blades of the rotor, passing out through the port 44 into the chamit is conducted to the radiator. According as the volume of steam is greater or less, the position of the valves 26, and 41 will vary. That is to say, using valve 26 as an illustration, as the steam increases in volume the pressure exerted upon the face of the arm "28 and valve member 32 will cause the valve :26 to be moved away from the end 34 of port 25, against the resistance of spring 35, to widen the nozzle for the incoming exhaust steam, thereby diminishing its velocity and likewise preventing back pressure upon the engine. As the volume of steam decreases, the coil spring 35 will tend to move the valve 26 toward the'wall 34, thereby decreasing the area of the inlet nozzle to the turbine. The same operation occurs, of course, with respect to the valve 41, which latter valve is controlled by a coil spring 47, (Fig. 5). Thus it will be seen that I secure practically constant speed of rotation of the rotor, irrespective of changes in load on the engine, by automatically adjusting the size of the nozzle, or nozzles, o1 the turbine in accordance with the increase or decrease in volume of steam passing through the turbine. It will readily be seen also that such an arrangement prevents increases in back pressure on the engine as, coincident with increase in volume, and therefore pressure, of the steam, there is a corresponding increase in the size of the path of escape for the steam.

The construction herein illustrated represents the most practical embodiment of my invention now known to me, but the inventicn may be embodied in a different construction of apparatus without at all departing from the principle of providing a compensating nozzle for steam turbines characterizing the invention.

It will furthermore 'be apparent that the exhaust steam need not be conducted again through the blades of the rotor after having once passed through them from the port 25, but that the exhaust steam may be passed directly from the chamber 39 to the exhaust manifold 46, and the valve 41 be dispensed with. In other words, the principle of the invention is applicable to a single-acting, as well as to a double-acting turbine.

I claim:

1. In an exhaust-steam turbine, in combination with the rotor and means for conducting steam tl ereto, automatic means for increasing the area of the steam-conducting means as the volume of steam increases.

ducting steam to said rotor, and means for automatically adjusting the area of said nozzlein-accordance :with the volume of steamadmitted thereto to maintain an apberf45 and thence to the-exhaust 46, whence proximately constant steam velocity.

3. In an exhaust-steam turbine, in combination with the rotor, means for maintaining an approximately constant steam velocity comprising a compensating nozzle for conducting steam to the rotor.

4. In an exhaust-steam turbine, in com bination with the rotor, a nozzle for conducting steam thereto, said nozzle having a movable member adapted to be displaced by increase in volume of the steam passing to said nozzle to increase the area of said nozzle, and means tending normally to move said member to decrease the area of said nozzle.

5. In an exhaust-steam turbine, in combination with a rotor chamber, a rotor mounted therein, an elongated port in one wall of said chamber for permitting access of steam to said rotor, and a valve controlling said port and yieldable upon increase in the volume of steam supplied thereto to increase the area of said port.

6. In an exhaust-steam turbine, in combination with the rotor chamber, a rotor mounted therein, an elongated port in one wall of said chamber for permitting access of steam to said rotor, a movable, spring-controlled valve governing said port and subject to the pressure of steam supplied thereto, whereby upon increase in the volume of steam said valve will be moved to increase the area of said port to a greater or less extent, and upon decrease in the volume of steam said valve will be moved by its spring to decrease the area of said port to a greater or less extent.

7. In an exhaust-steam turbine, in combination with the rotor and nozzles for passing steam through the rotor from opposite directions, automatic means for increasing the area of said nozzles as the volumes of steam supplied thereto respectively increase.

8. In an exhaust steam turbine, in combination with a rotor chamber, a rotor mounted therein, ports provided in opposite walls of said chamber for permitting continuous passage of the steam through said rotor in difi'erent directions, and a valve controll ng each of said ports, said valves being yieldable to increase the area of the respective ports upon increase in the volumes of steam supplied thereto.

9. In an exhaust steam turbine, in combination with the rotor chamber,a rotor mounted therein, an elongated port in one wall of said chamber for permitting access of steam to said rotor, a movable spring con 

